The Lenny Collaborations 2 0
by I.Am.Molly
Summary: Some little one shots that Terrible Waitress and i made together. All Lenny of course and plenty of cuteness too. :)
1. The Proton Interruption

**Yup, we did it again. Terrible Waitress and I have way too much fun playing these writing games and this one literally happened within the space of five hours. It would just be mean not so share it! So, yeah, enjoy! Just like the last time the prompt for this is at the end. :)**

* * *

"I still don't get it." Penny said, her face squirming in confusion as she stepped on to the last flight of stairs up to the fourth floor, her hands holding loosely on to Leonard's arm.

Giving a short huff and shaking his head Leonard looked down at his hands to find the key to his apartment, "Well I'm not explaining it again. I've already tried _three_ times."

"Okay," She sighed, "I guess if I haven't got it by now I'll probably never get it…" She looked up to Leonard as he nodded his head in agreement, her fingers beginning to play with the material on his jacket. "Next time though,_ I'm_ picking the movie."

"You wanna pay next time too?" Leonard instantly replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

Penny dropped her jaw, "But I can't pay!" She whined before pouting her bottom lip, "I'm a struggling actress-slash-student-slash-waitress. I can't afford to pay for dates!"

With a chuckle Leonard shook his head, "You managed to pay for all those clothes and stuff you ordered online, so I don't think you can really pull out the 'struggling actress-slash-student-slash-waitress' card."

"Yeah that's true…" She mumbled before looking to him with a smirk, "Although I didn't hear you complaining about my purchases last night."

With a grin Leonard nodded, his mind flashing through the events of the night before, "Good point… I tell you what, _you _keep on buying stuff like that, and _I'll_ continue to pay for all of our dates. Deal?" He said, stepping up onto the fourth floor, stopping just outside his apartment.

After giving a soft laugh, Penny nodded as she let go of his arm and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, "Deal." She answered before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Once she pulled away, her brow furrowed a little upon realising they had stopped at Leonard's apartment instead of walking the few extra feet to her own like they usually did on date nights. "Why are we stopping here? Aren't you coming to my place?" She asked, her hands sliding down to rest on his chest.

"Hm," Leonard shrugged as he turned to put his key in his door. "I thought we could spend the night here instead."

"But what about-"

"Sheldon's out."

"Oh, okay." She nodded as Leonard opened the door motioning for her to enter first. "Such a gentleman, Leonard!" She smiled as she walked past him and into the apartment.

With a chuckle Leonard walked in behind her and closed the door, "I think there's still some wine in the cupboard if you wanna open that."

Dropping her purse on to Leonard's chair, Penny nodded and walked towards the bathroom, "Sounds great, but first I gotta pee."

When Penny left the bathroom a few moments later the lights in the apartment were dulled and she noticed a few candles lit on the coffee table beside two wine glasses, "Oooh, very romantic." She said as she walked down the corridor, scanning the apartment for Leonard, eventually spotting him standing at the desk beside the window, his eyes focused on his iPod sitting neatly in its docking station and walked over to stand beside him. "Ooh, music too?"

"Well, I _am _a romance ninja." Leonard replied with a grin. "I don't even know half of the songs on here. Did you put them on here?"

"No." Penny bit her lip, sighing when he continued to look at her as she approached him. "Okay fine, I put some songs onto your iPod. Mine broke so I've been using yours. And by the way, _that _is an amazing playlist," she said, as he arrived at one she had created. He clicked shuffle, and they both grinned as a flow of seductive bass notes filled the apartment. "Who's the romance ninja now?"

"Team effort?" Leonard placed his hands on her hips, as they both began to sway slightly to the music.

"Mm'kay." Penny nodded, placing her hands on his chest and tilting her head up towards him.

Tilting his head down slightly, Leonard's lips met hers briefly, before he pulled away and gestured with one hand to the couch and coffee table. "Shall we?"

As he held his hand out for her, Penny took it with a grin. "Well, this is turning out to be a very promising night." She tilted her head slightly as they sat down, and he handed her her glass of wine. "Hey, where did you get your iPod from? I thought it was in my handbag."

"No, it was on your coffee table this morning next to your phone. I thought I must have left it at yours or something so I took it back."

"Yeah, I needed to charge it. Forgot about that... but I suppose you've already taken care of that." Penny took another sip of her wine, before placing the glass down on the table. "So... no Sheldon, huh? The whole of the fourth floor to ourselves."

"Technically, since there's a ground floor labeled separately to the 'first floor', this floor is _actually _the-"

"Leonard, sweetie," Penny giggled slightly, placing a finger over his lips.

Getting the hint, Leonard let out a small "_oh_" in understanding, before placing his wine glass down too. Sliding her hands to his chest, she fiddled with the material of his shirt for a moment, biting her bottom lip as she looked up at him. The iPod moved on to the next song, and Leonard leaned forward slightly, moving his hands to cup her face before kissing her.

For a brief moment, Penny wondered if perhaps she ought to change into one of the nighties she had purchased. But that thought was gone when Leonard's right hand moved down to her shoulder, and then dropped gently down to her waist. Moving a hand into his hair, she swayed her hips slightly to the music, mostly an attempt to tease him but also as a move to get closer to Leonard. Her other hand undid the top four buttons of his shirt, and she slipped her hand in to feel the warmth of his skin.

Running her tongue along his lip after pulling apart momentarily to steal a lustful look into each others eyes, Penny uttered out a quiet "mm" as his mouth accepted her tongue and reciprocated. Leonard's hand moved from her face and into her hair, gently maneuvering them so they were lying across the couch. There was something exhilirating about the slow pace they were taking right now as memories from the more urgent pace they'd ended with the previous night flashed across her eyelids.

"Mmm," Penny moaned again, tilting her head up as Leonard moved his lips from hers and worked his way slowly down her jawline, stopping at her neck to gently lick and suck at her skin.

Her hand moved into his hair, tugging at the thick curls as her other gripped the material of the shirt on his back, letting out another soft moan when she felt his hand slip under her top, the heat from his fingers as they brushed against the skin of her waist making her shudder.

Leonard allowed himself to smile just a little as he continued to work on her neck, feeling quite proud that she was already like putty in his hands no more than fifteen minutes after stepping foot in the apartment.

He let out a moan of his own when he felt her push his head closer to her neck – not that it could actually _get_ any closer – and grind her hips up into his with a groan of his name. He began to slowly work his way down from her neck, placing light kisses along her collarbone to the centre of her chest, before making his way back up to her mouth.

When his lips hit hers again, parting just enough to let their tongues meet, Penny slid both of her hands to his shoulder and slowly down his chest and stomach, unfastening any buttons that she came across until it was completely open.

At the same time, Leonard slid his hand up, teasing her by making patterns on her skin with the tips of his fingers, until he came to a stop at the material of her bra, eventually cupping his hand around her breast and giving her a gentle squeeze.

At this, Penny gasped, her lips leaving his for no more than a second before crashing back on to them again, pushing him back as she sat up and manoeuvred their position so that she was now sitting on top of him, her hands placed on his hot bare chest, her hips rocking into his.

A little surprised by the shift in position, but happy to go along with it anyway, Leonard slid both his hands under her top once more, pushing it up as they moved up her sides, while she began to plant kisses down his neck and chest. When Leonard's hands, and the material of her top, reached her bust, Penny sat up just enough to let him pull it off and throw it away, before instantly continuing to kiss and nibble at the skin on his chest, slowly inching downward.

"Oh my God, Penny." Leonard moaned, just as her warm lips reached the top of his stomach, and the song on the iPod switched.

_Grab your goggles, put your lab coat on. Here he comes, Professor Proton._

Penny shot bolt upright, her eyes wide. Her chest continued to heave as a new shade of red spread across her face, now flushed with embarrassment as opposed to being turned on. Leonard simply lay beneath her, a brow raised in confusion, as the theme song repeated itself.

"What... just happened?" He asked eventually, as the song repeated itself for a fourth time.

"Oh my God... oh my God that wasn't meant to be in that playlist!" Penny's hands moved to the side of her face in panic. "_No _that was meant to go in the other one - no, no, _no_!"

Jumping off him, Penny ran over to the iPod and hurriedly hit the pause button. Leonard sat up to find her grabbing his iPod, staring intently at the screen.

"Umm..." Leonard furrowed his brow. He watched as Penny groaned and dropped the iPod onto the desk, before running a hand through her hair. "Is... uh, what... why is that song on my iPod? So many times?"

She stared at him for a moment, fidgeting with her hands, before sighing and walking over to flop down on the couch. "You're gonna laugh at me," she whined.

"No I won't." Leonard insisted.

"Yes you will!" Penny moaned. "Alright fine. After you made me watch that old episode of Professor Proton with you I had that song stuck in my head. I found it on YouTube, and someone had put it on a loop for like ten minutes, it made me laugh, so I downloaded it from there." She bit her lip as she looked down at her hands. "It wasn't meant to go in that playlist." Finally she looked up at Leonard, and she could tell from the way he had pursed his lips and had his eyebrows slightly raised that he was trying not to laugh at her. "It was really funny when I listened to it okay!"

"Okay." Leonard chuckled slightly.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" Penny reached behind her to pull the pillow out she was leaning on, throwing it at him and folding her arms across her chest, suddenly realising she was still topless. Maybe she should have kept that pillow to cover herself; she had no idea where her top had ended up. "Give me back that pillow."

"No."

"Fine, I'll just put one of your shirts on." Penny jutted her jaw defiantly.

"Go on."

Before Penny could get fully off the couch, Leonard had jumped up, racing her to his bedroom. Yelling a surprised "no!", Penny got there a second after her did. She tried to get past him to open his door, before giving up and placing her hands on her hips. "Where's my t-shirt?"

Leonard grinned smugly at her. "I'm not saying."

"Where did you throw it?"

"Off."

Penny rolled her eyes. "Either tell me where you saw it or let me have one of your t-shirts."

His eyes twinkled for a moment before he spoke. "Only if you sing the Professor Proton theme song."

Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she glared at him. "I'm not doing that."

Before he had time to respond, she was marching down the hallway in search of her shirt again. He stayed at his door, amused, and she returned a minute later, still topless. "You didn't find it?"

"Where the hell is it?"

"You're gonna have to sing the so-ong." Leonard grinned.

Hesitating for a moment, Penny eventually rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Fine. But you're _mean_." She glared at him for a moment. "Grab your goggles, put your lab coat on, here he comes, Professor Proton." She folded her arms again. "There. Happy?"

"_Incredibly_." Leonard laughed. "Check the pile of our jackets and your shawl on my desk chair."

* * *

**From ImagineYourOTP on tumblr: Imagine your OTP making out to a seductive song, not realizing the ipod is on the shuffle. Right as things are heating up the song ends and a goofy song like What Does the Fox Say comes on and ruins the moment.**

**Oh and, brilliant song choice huh? I cant take any credit for that (although I wish I could!), that was all the Waitress' thing!**


	2. The First Day Illusion

**Some more Molly and T-dawg cuteness for y'all. Gonna keep all of our little collaborations in this here so they are all in the one place, much easier that way :) Enjoy guys!**

* * *

"Kyle! Julia! Breakfast is on the table come on down." Penny yelled from the kitchen, in the direction of the stairs that led up to the bedroom's, hearing muffled groans of displeasure instantly in return.

Picking up her cup of coffee, Penny leant back against the kitchen counter with one arm folded across her stomach as she looked over the room, still dressed in her robe and her hair still un-brushed, cherishing the last few moments of peace before her tired and grumpy children arrived. Unfortunately they had inherited her lousy attitude to being awake before the clock hit double figures, but at least she had coffee to make her mornings a little better.

Suddenly the sound of a high pitched squeal followed by an abundance of muffled giggles filled the air, instantly making her smile as she recognized her little girls laughter. Turning her head in the direction of the noise, Penny softly laughed as she watched Leonard walk into the room with Julia over his shoulder, her little five year old legs kicking out against his chest, and with Kyle walking directly in front of him, rubbing his eyes as Leonard put a hand on his shoulder to lead him to the dining table.

"Daddy!" Julia giggled as she squirmed on his shoulder. "Put me down!"

Chuckling, Leonard maneuvered the little girl from his shoulder and sat her down on her seat, "There you go. Now, eat up you two. Then you can wash up and get dressed for school." He said, his statement being met with a yawn and a nod from Julia and a simple groan from his eight year old son as Leonard gently ruffled his bright blonde hair.

"Good morning." Penny said with a smile as Leonard shuffled towards her in his red robe and white socks, putting her coffee down on the counter as she reached out to put her arms around his neck.

"Morning." He muttered, holding her waist as he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You were up extra early this morning. It's not like you."

Smiling, Penny rested her forehead against his. "I'm excited. It's our baby girls first day at elementary school, _and_ the first time in a _long_ time that this house will be free of children for more than a couple of hours."

"That's true. It's going to be so quiet."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Penny smirked, lowering her voice just a little, "I think things are going to get _pretty_ noisy."

"I knew there was a reason I took the day off work." Sharing a laugh, they leaned in once more to kiss one another on the lips.

"Eww!" A little girls voice in the background exclaimed, "Mommy! Daddy! Stop it!"

"Okay, okay, we're stopping sweetie, just finish your breakfast." Penny said, holding in a laugh as she moved her arms down from around his neck and placing her palms on his chest. "It'll be fun being able to kiss outside of our bedroom again without being yelled at."

Leaning in closer, Leonard pulled Penny tighter to him as he wrapped his arms around her back, "It'll be fun being able to do more than-"

At that moment, Julia stood up from her seat, holding her empty breakfast bowl proudly out in front of her. "Finished!"

Penny turned her head away from Leonard's, clearing her throat. "Good girl, you even finished the milk! You want to go get washed and dressed?"

Julia put her bowl back down on the table before running towards and up the stairs.

"I'm done too." Kyle mumbled as he stood from the table.

"Excellent, sweetie. Go wash up, and remember to comb your hair!" Penny chuckled.

"Oh man." Kyle groaned, shaking his head slightly before picking up his and his sisters bowls to take into the kitchen before heading upstairs.

"So..." Penny turned back to Leonard, biting her lip. "A whole morning and afternoon with the house to ourselves."

"Mmhmm." Leonard smiled, gently placing his lips over hers, before slowly pulling back. "But first we've got to get dressed and take Grumpy and Sleepy to school."

"Good point." Penny agreed, and the two of them began to make their way upstairs. "Did you pack their backpacks?"

"Yup, they're downstairs by the door. You make the packed lunches?"

"Made them this morning, lunchboxes are on the kitchen counter. Signed the forms?" Penny asked, as they made their way into their bedroom, closing the door before dropping their robes and heading over to their respective sides of the closet.

"All done and in little files in their backpacks. Did you sign off their summer reading and activities list?" Leonard pulled off his white pajama t-shirt to pull on a plain green t-shirt instead.

"Uh-huh," Penny mumbled, doing up her bra and pulling a loose fitting white t-shirt over her head. "But next time you're in charge of that, Kyle was reading _way _faster than me. Ugh, my hair." Penny frowned, catching sight of herself in the mirror as she did up her own pants. Reaching out for her brush, she watched as Leonard made his way into the en-suite bathroom in the mirror reflection.

Once her hair had been brushed through and she'd tied it up in a top knot, Penny went into the bathroom to brush her teeth as Leonard went to check on the kids. Grabbing a dark blue blazer as she left the room, Penny headed over to Julia's room as she shrugged it on. "You ready baby girl?"

There was a scrambling behind the door, before Julia appeared, placing her hands on her hips. "Do I look like a big girl going to school, Mommy?"

"Oh, you do!" Penny smiled, crouching down to give her daughter a hug. "You all ready for your first day of school?"

"I'm excited!"

"Good! Shall we go downstairs?"

"Race you!" Julia ran past Penny, who simply laughed to herself as she stood up and began to make her way back downstairs.

As she had expected, she found Leonard and Kyle sitting on the sofa with a reading book. She smiled to herself at this for a moment, before making her way over to them.

"Alright bookworms, it's time to go. You ready for the new school year Kyle?"

"Uh-huh," Kyle nodded eagerly, as Leonard put the book down on the coffee table. "We're studying the Tudors this year!"

"Wow!" Penny grinned. "You can tell me all about them then. Go put your shoes on sweetie - Julia might need some help with her laces, I'm just going to grab your lunchboxes."

"Did you get me the Green Lantern one?"

"Yeah, and Hello Kitty for Julia."

"Awesome." Kyle nodded approvingly, before rushing down the hallway.

Penny turned, smiling as she watched her little boy run enthusiastically to his room, feeling Leonard's arms wrap around her stomach as he stood behind her mere seconds later.

"You're handling this a lot better than you did the last time." He muttered, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Penny replied curiously as her hands covered his.

"Remember when Kyle had his first day at school?" He tilted his head to face hers better, a small smile curling on to his lips, "You were a mess."

"I wasn't _that_ bad." She said, leaning her head against his as her mind instantly travelled back to that day.

"You were." He squeezed his arms tighter around her. "You were almost in tears as you watched him run through the school gates."

"So were you."

"I know," He agreed as he kissed her shoulder, "but only because you were."

Penny let out a soft laugh as she nodded, "Well it's different this time - that's not going to happen. I'm more prepared, I know what to expect. The last time it was all just a bit of a shock… but _this_ time," She turned in his arms to face him, her arms instantly wrapping around his neck. "I'm focusing more on the fact that for the first time in eight years we will both be alone in this house on a weekday without any children." Biting on her lip, Penny leant forward to place a kiss on his lips.

"We're ready!" Two excited little voices exclaimed, almost in unison, just a few seconds after her lips had touched his.

"I swear I think they do that on purpose." Penny whispered with just a hint of frustration, causing Leonard to chuckle as she turned and walked over to her two children standing in the doorway. "Okay, let me see you."

"I'll get their coats and backpacks." Leonard said as he walked off.

"Kyle helped me do my laces." Julia said as she lifted her foot to show her mother, her lip pouting just a little, "I still can't do it by myself."

Penny smiled as she crouched down and straightened up her daughter's clothes and hair. "Don't worry sweetie, you'll get it soon. Now, you go to your daddy and get your backpack and coat." With a wide grin, Julia ran off, and Kyle was just about to follow when Penny stopped him. "Wait there, you." She grinned as he moaned and started to straighten up his clothes too. "Now," She held him gently by both arms. "You be a good big brother and look out for your sister today okay?" When he rolled his eyes, Penny gave him a stern look.

"Fine." He huffed.

"You promise me?"

"Yes," He moaned, "I promise."

"Good boy," She smiled as she kissed his forehead and stood up, "Now go get daddy and your sister."

As Kyle ran off, Penny headed to the kitchen to grab the two lunchboxes waiting on the table, before quickly walking back out to meet her family by the front door.

"Yay! You got me Hello Kitty!" Julia exclaimed as she rushed to take her lunchbox from her mother.

"Of course." She said as she handed Kyle his and took a step back, her hand at her chest as she looked upon her two children, images of them as babies flashing through her head as she wondered where the time had gone and how they had managed to grow up so fast.

"Ready to go?" Leonard said as he reached for the door, noticing the tears beginning to glaze over Penny's eye's.

"No wait!" She held up her hand, clearing her throat as she reached into her pocket. "Let me take a picture of you."

"Aw no _mom_!" Kyle squirmed. "Do we have to? You do this every year."

"Yes I have to! And I do this every year, because every year you change!"

"And this year is extra special because I get to be in the picture this time too." Julia added, smiling proudly with her chin in the air.

After taking a moment to smile at just how much her daughter looked like her father in that moment, she nodded, "Exactly," and then swiped at her phone to reach the camera, "Okay stand beside each other," Glancing over the phone, Penny watched and waited as they got into position, "Okay good, and smile..." Lowering her phone, Penny flicked through the few pictures she had taken and smiled, her heart melting at every one, "Perfect."

"You okay?" Leonard placed a hand on Penny's arm reassuringly, giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah," Penny nodded at him, "I am. Let's go."

Leonard opened the door, and Julia ran down the drive to the car excitedly. Kyle walked slowly after her, and Leonard and Penny left together after sharing a small smile. Penny got into the passenger seat after helping the kids into the car, and Leonard did his usual 'everybody ready?' seatbelt check before starting the drive to school. Both children enthusiastically discussed what the day would be like, their parents simply grinning as they listened to the conversation going on behind them. They arrived at the school, and once Penny had opened the door, Julia jumped out quickly, grinning from ear to ear. Julia took hold of each of her parents hands, and Penny put her other hand on Kyle's shoulder as they headed in through the gates.

"I see Jennifer!" Julia let go of her parents hands to point at her friend, and they walked to meet the family of three, exchanging their usual greetings and asking if everybody was ready for the first day of school. Moments later, a woman slightly older than Penny exited through the main doors of the building. "Mommy, Daddy, that's my teacher!"

The woman introduced herself, and Penny remembered meeting her a few months before. She read out her class list, and said they would be going in now.

"Okay, you ready?" Penny asked, crouching down with Leonard, each of them taking one of Julia's hands.

"Uh-huh." Julia nodded eagerly, her dark curls bouncing.

"Have a great day, baby girl." Leonard smiled, kissing his daughters forehead.

"Enjoy yourself, and be good!" Penny hugged her, feeling Leonard's hand reassuringly rub her back.

"I will." Julia nodded, as her parents stood up. "Bye Kyle!" She hugged her older brother, before moving slightly to stand with Jennifer. "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy!"

Leonard, Penny and Kyle waved as Julia waved back at them before disappearing into the building.

"Alright," Penny took a breath, turning to Kyle with a smile. "Time to take you to class."

Taking Leonard's hand, they followed Kyle across the playground to where his class was, immediately spotting his friends and their parents just before his teacher came out to meet them all and take them inside. They wished him a good day, exchanged hugs and goodbyes, and watched as he joined his group of friends before walking into class. He gave a small wave before he went inside.

"I'm impressed you're not crying," Leonard commented as they made their way back to the exit, still holding hands.

"I'm sad, but... she was really excited. It's less of a shock the second time round, I guess." Penny smiled up at him.

Leonard nodded, "yeah, she really was excited to be starting school. That helps, doesn't it, that she's looking forward to it?"

"It definitely does." Penny agreed, swinging their hands slightly as they left through the gates and headed towards the car. They walked quietly to the car, enjoying the calm background noise of parents talking and kids not yet old enough for school babbling quietly to themselves. As they stopped at the car, Penny tilted her head slightly and turned to face him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Leonard smiled.

"I can't believe _both _of our kids are old enough for school now." Penny mused, walking round to the passenger side and getting in.

"Me neither," Leonard began the car. "Time flies."

"Yeah." Penny watched the school disappear as they drove down the road for a moment, before turning back to him. "But you know. Time flies and eight years later we have the house to ourselves _all day_."

"Uh huh." Leonard grinned, looking at her briefly before turning back to the road.

The remainder of the short drive home was spent in a peaceful silence, bar the music flowing from the radio. These quiet moments were rare and relaxing, even rarer that they were spent together rather than separately on journeys to work or quick trips to the grocery store whilst running errands.

Once they had pulled into the drive and Leonard had shut the engine off, and their seatbelts had been removed, Penny leaned over and kissed him, not finding it in her to wait. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his held her face as he returned her kiss. His hands slid to her waist, and hers curled into his hair, the idea of complete privacy for the day becoming even more appealing, if that were possible, by the second. They found themselves moaning quietly as their tongues came into play.

Eventually, they pulled apart for some air, and Penny looked at Leonard with her brows raised and an amused expression on her face. "Well, haven't done that in here for quite a while," she wiggled her eyebrows at him, "what do you say we take this inside the house?"

"I say _absolutely_." Leonard grinned.

Giggling, they got out the car, Penny holding onto his arm as they walked up to the door. He gave her a soft kiss when they stopped to unlock the door, and she bit her lip as he pushed open the door.

"Hmm." Penny sighed blissfully as she kicked her shoes off, shutting the door behind her. "Peace and quiet."

"Not for long." Leonard pointed out with a mischeivous smirk, pushing his shoes to the side with his foot and holding his hand out to Penny.

"Ooh, you're so right there." Penny took his hand, following him down the hallway and into the front room.

They made their way through the front room, to the dining room, and then to the kitchen, in silence. Each room they passed through, it hit them more and more just how... strange it was. They'd tidied up the night before, so there were no stray board games, books or childrens toys. No forgotten mugs of coffee on the tables, or bits of work dotted around the house where they'd been put down to see to the children instead. No laughter flowing into the kitchen from the downstairs rooms or from up the stairs, no yells of "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" echoing throughout the house.

"It's... quiet." Penny said, tightening her grip on Leonard's hand.

"Yeah." Leonard nodded, frowning. "It's... strange."

"Yeah."

They stared at the two empty bowls in the sink from the breakfast their children had eaten this morning. Leonard turned to Penny, who looked back at him helplessly. He squeezed her hand. "You want a cup of tea?" She nodded at him, letting go of his hand and moving to lean against the counter.

As he silently went about making the tea, Penny looked around the room expectantly, her gaze unable to stay put. Eventually she settled on watching him pour the hot water from the kettle into the two mugs, and she giggled slightly as the heat steamed up his glasses. "Remember when Kyle would draw two big circles on your glasses as 'eyes' when that would happen?"

"Yeah." Leonard nodded with a small chuckle, taking his glasses off to wipe them on his shirt. Putting them back on, he sighed, before handing Penny her mug. "I keep expecting one of them to come running into the kitchen."

"Me too."

Wrapping his free arm around her, they walked back into the front room, settling down on the sofa, their mugs in front of them on the coffee table. He kept his arm wrapped around her back, hand resting on her waist, the other holding her hand, which was draped lightly over his stomach. She leaned her head on his chest, legs folded to the side.

"I miss them." Penny mumbled after a while, tilting her head to look up at him.

"I know." Leonard kissed her forehead lightly. "I miss them too."

Reaching her hand out to the side, Penny picked up the remote control and switched on the television, peering disinterestedly at the menu before moving onto their list of recorded movies and programs. She looked at Leonard briefly. "At least we can catch up on these now."

"Yeah, we can." Leonard nodded.

Sighing, Penny began the first one on the list, putting down the remote control to rejoin her hand with Leonard's. They spent their day cuddled up on the couch, getting up for bathroom breaks and a lunch break - too quiet and tidy without the children accompanying them. The moment the clock hanging above the television hit twenty to three, both of them eagerly jumped up from the couch, forgetting that without the children, they didn't _need _ten minutes to put on jackets, shoes, locate missing handbag items and fill up water bottles and take snacks in case they spent more time out than they had intended.

But despite how quickly they were ready to go and how short the drive was, it was evident they weren't the only parents who had spent the day anticipating seeing their children again. The playground was full of adults intently watching the doors for the moment the bell rang three o'clock and the children came bursting out to meet their parents.

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP sending their kids off for their first day of school, expecting to come home and have sex since it's their first day alone in a while, but end up feeling sad and having separation anxiety so they cuddle all day instead.**


	3. The Decorating Determination

**It's christmas season so we have brought you some christmas cuteness! Enjoy!**

* * *

Burying her face into Leonard's chest, Penny sniffled and wiped away a straying tear from her cheek with the sleeve of the hoodie she had 'borrowed' from Leonard, before pulling her hand up under her chin.

It was a cold Saturday evening in the throws of winter, one they had deemed perfect for a quiet day watching movies as they snuggled up together on the sofa, using their body heat, as well as a certain blue blanket with sleeves to keep them warm. Penny was cuddled up into the left side of his body with her legs folded up behind her, his left arm around her shoulder and resting on her arm.

Upon hearing Penny sniffle beside him, Leonard tightened his hold on her and began to trace gentle patterns on her arm. "You okay?" He quietly asked as he placed a kiss on top of her head.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, though the crack in her voice was still evident.

"Are you sure?"

Tilting her head up, Penny gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, sweetie. I just-" she gave a short sigh as she turned her head back to face the television. "I always cry at this bit where the snowman melts... It's so sad." She looked back up at him again a few moments later, "Didn't you think it was sad?"

"Well, yeah," He shrugged a little, "I guess it was a _bit_ sad but…" He frowned, "I mean… that was obviously going to happen. He's a snowman; they melt... I guess I just didn't find it that sad because I knew as soon as it came to life that at some point it _was_ going to melt." He shrugged again, "I expected it."

"But… but the snowman was his dad!" Penny protested, sitting up a little to face him properly.

"No, the snowman was an _embodiment_ of his dad. It wasn't his actual dad."

"Yes it was! His dad came to life _in_ the snowman! So he lost his dad twice!"

"No, he lost his dad once and a _snowman_ once."

Huffing, Penny shook her head and rested her head back on his chest. "Whatever._ I _think it's sad."

"And I think you're cute when you get all defensive like that," He supressed a chuckle as he kissed her head again, "why did you even want to watch it if it makes you so upset?"

"Because, it's…" Shuffling in closer to his body, Penny smiled as she wrapped her arm around him. "Christmassy. Back home we used to watch a holiday movie every Christmas Eve before being sent to bed for Santa to come and because of that when I watch these kinda movies it gets me all excited for the Holidays." After smiling to herself for a moment, Penny's eyes lit up and she sat up, placing a hand on his chest to prop herself up. "Oh my God, you know what we should do?!"

"What?" Leonard asked with caution.

"We should put up the Christmas decorations!"

"Don't you think it's a little early for that?" He hesitantly asked, "It's not even December yet."

"No, it's not too early. There's no like, _law_, on when you can and can't put them up. I think as long as Thanksgiving is over you can put them up whenever you want." Her smile beamed, "and I think we should do it now!"

"I don't know…"

Penny pouted her bottom lip at Leonard's uncertain response, "Come on," She pleaded. "Please? It could… It could be like an early birthday present!"

Leonard smiled, his brow raised, "Is that your attempt to subtlety remind me your birthday is coming up?"

"Maybe…" Penny shrugged, "Oh and FYI, if you have a look at the 'Favourites' list on your homepage thing, there are a few pretty items on there that a certain girl might like for her birthday, and/or Christmas."

"Wow," He chuckled, "subtlety really isn't one of your strong points is it?"

"Shut up." She chuckled back, hitting him lightly on the chest as she sat up properly on her knees. "Please, Leonard, come on. Lets do it now." She pleaded again as she gripped his arm with one hand and placed the other on the back of his neck. Tilting her head, she pouted her lip again and began lightly playing with his hair, "It's our first Christmas together, we really should go all out."

"It's not our first Christmas together." He replied with a frown.

"Yes it is! As a couple that have their own apartment together it is. It's special, so we should start celebrating it early."

Leonard smiled at that. She did have a point, and he did always enjoy the decorating part of the Holidays, mainly because he hadn't had much of it growing up. And this time he wouldn't have Sheldon breathing down his neck, insisting that it was a waste of time yet at the same time harassing him about not doing it correctly. So what if it was a little earlier than most people would consider appropriate, if Penny wanted the Holidays to start now, then he wasn't going to deny her.

"Okay."

The word barely left his mouth before Penny let out a squeal, grabbed his face to kiss him fully on the lips. "Yes!" She exclaimed, jumping up off the sofa, letting their blanket fall to the floor.

"But wait," Leonard chuckled at her excitement, "We don't have a tree."

"We can get one!" She quickly replied, "There's a place a couple of minutes away that just started selling them, it's only like… seven o'clock or something its probably still open," Penny reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him up from his seat, "come on, lets go!"

"What, seriously, like, right now?" Leonard raised his brows, watching as Penny skipped over to the door to grab their coats. He managed to catch his coat as she threw it over to him, and began to pull it on as she practically forced hers onto herself.

"_Yes, _right now!" Penny bobbed her head up and down eagerly, throwing on her scarf. She was like a child on Christmas morning, excitement written all over her face and unable to keep still.

By the time he'd put on his coat and scarf, she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, jiggling the car keys in her hands. He smiled at the sight of her so happy, and walked over to her. "Alright, lets go then."

"Yay!" Penny squealed, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the apartment and down the stairs before he had time to properly acknowledge that he was actually moving somewhere. It was only when he realized that Penny was getting into the drivers seat that he pulled a face at her.

"Aren't you a little too excited to be driving?"

Shutting the door and doing up her seatbelt, she stuck her tongue out at him, leaving him with no choice but to get into the passenger seat on the other side. She watched in anticipation as he done up his seatbelt, before switching on the car radio and pulling out of the parking spot. It was only a matter of seconds before they were speeding down the road at a speed he was certain his car had never gone at before (now that Penny was on his car insurance too, the car was bound to experience new speeds and driving styles that were worse than Bernadette's) and she was singing along to a Christmas song on the radio that he hadn't heard before.

"What are you smirking at?" Penny asked after a while, as the song came to an end and an advert for 'Holiday Escapes' rolled on. "You're laughing at my singing, aren't you?"

"No." Leonard turned to look out of the window with a smug look on his face.

"Yes you are!" Penny hit his arm as she turned a sharp left. "Fine, then I'm not going to treat you to my special, heartfelt rendition of Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You' later on then."

"Aw, that's such a shame." Leonard chuckled.

"Actually, no, I will sing it, Mr. Sarcastic, when you least expect it, and _really _loudly, and really go for it with that high note at the end, _just _to annoy you for-" Penny stopped talking suddenly to grin at the sight of Christmas trees ahead of them, "We're here! Look at the trees!"

"Yeah, I see them, just park the car and then you can be all excited about them and we'll pick one out," Leonard's heart melted at the look of pure joy on her face.

"Oh yeah, parking." Penny furrowed her brow as she whizzed down to find a parking spot which would mean the least walking distance to the trees. As soon as the car was parked, she was jumping out of the car, all her concentration gone. He'd only just gotten out of the car and she was already by the small temporary gate which marked the entrance. As he shut his door, she held out the keys to lock the car, and he walked over to her quickly. Grinning up at him, she held out her hand. Their fingers intertwined, and Penny leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the lips. "Lets go pick out our first Christmas tree together, Leonard."

After a second of looking lovingly into one another's eyes Penny turned away and swiftly walked in the direction of the entrance, her hand gripping tightly on to Leonard's as she pulled him along with her.

Once through the gate they walked slowly, hand in hand in contented silence as they admired the abundance of fir trees around them, all of different shapes and sizes, but all of them quite beautiful.

After a few minutes, Leonard gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "So, what do you think?"

Penny sighed and moved in close to place her head on his shoulder while they continued their slow paced walk. "They're all so pretty." She muttered as she brought her free hand up to loosely hold his arm.

"Which one should we get?"

"Hmm." She indecisively hummed. "I'm not sure."

He lifted their joined hands in the direction of one of the trees. "What about that one?"

Penny lifted her head from his shoulder, and after taking a moment to look the tree over, she slowly shook her head and scrunched up her nose. "Hm, no."

"Why not?" He asked, confused as to why she would turn down what seemed to him to be a perfectly fine tree.

Penny simply shrugged and said, "It's too skinny." Then walked on, tugging at his arm again to walk with her.

As they continued their search, Leonard quickly realised that picking out a tree, a task that had been done in the past with minimal fuss, was going to be decidedly more difficult this time around. Every time he pointed out what he deemed to be perfectly adequate trees, Penny readily dismissed, each one for a different reason. They were too small or too big, too bushy or not bushy enough. Some weren't the right shade of green, some just weren't the right shape and some, to her, didn't smell right. It truly baffled him how she could find so many critiques for a simple Christmas tree and as the time passed it became more and more frustrating.

"Come on Penny," He tiredly moaned, "just pick any one. They all look fine!"

"We can't pick just _any _one Leonard," Penny quickly replied as she looked around, studying every tree they passed, "It's our first tree, it has to be perfect." A second after she said those words Penny gasped and stopped in her tracks, putting one hand out in front of Leonard to stop him too while the other pointed out ahead of her. "Oh my God Leonard – Look!"

"What is it?"

"Over here – look!" She exclaimed as she bounced off in the direction she had just been pointing in. "It's perfect! It's the perfect size to fit in our apartment! What do you think?" She asked him, her smile beaming as she looked from him to the tree she was standing directly in front of, reaching out to brush her hand over the bristles on its branches. "It's nice and bushy too!"

Leonard smiled as he walked over to join her. If he were to tell the truth, he couldn't see what she saw specifically in this one. To him it was just the same as all the rest, yet for some reason she singled out this one and after all the time he had spent there, there was no way he was going to argue against her choice.

"I think we should get it." He said, grinning as he put his arms around her waist.

Penny wrapped her arms around his neck, "Really?"

Nodding, he inched his face closer to hers, stopping when their noses touched lightly together. "Really." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before pulling back, "Now let's go find the guy to pack this up so we can get it home."

"Yes!" Penny exclaimed, unable to stop herself from jumping a little on the spot, "And then we can start the best part – decorating it!"

"That sounds good to me. Oh, hey, there's one of the guys who-"

But Penny got there before him, waving a hand enthusiastically in the air as the other moved to clutch Leonard's arm. "Hello! Excuse me?" She grinned as he walked over to them, having sufficiently received their attention. He smiled in greeting. "Umm, we want this tree." Penny gestured to the tree she had chosen, visions of it standing decorated in their apartment already running through her mind. "Please."

"Sure. You guys got a car?" He watched as Penny nodded eagerly. "Alright, well if you back it up to the gates while I pack this then it'll be easier to get it in."

"Okay!"

"No, wait, Penny, you stay here, I think you're too excited to drive in reverse." Leonard chuckled, rubbing her arm gently. "I'll go get the car."

"Mm, alright." Penny sighed. "Oh, that means I get to watch him pack the tree!"

Laughing slightly, Leonard left to get the car, and Penny followed the guy, who by now was hauling the tree, looking far from pleased that he was stuck with such an enthusiastic customer. She watched, wide-eyed, as with the help of another staff member the tree was placed in the machine and packed in white netting. He asked if she needed a stand, to which she said yes - deciding she might as well go all out this year. Paying him in cash (she had been keeping cash set aside in her purse for almost a week for the sole purpose of buying a tree), he accepted the money and handed her a small paper receipt. He took the tree while she took the stand, and walked back to the gates, Penny grinning the whole way, until they reached the car.

"Here-" Leonard jumped up from where he was leaning against the car, opening the boot and going to help place the tree inside the back of the car. Penny bounced from spot to spot, before Leonard took the stand from her and placed that in the back too before shutting the boot. They thanked the salesman, who looked more than happy to be parting from the eagerly grinning Penny.

"Happy?" Leonard asked, guiding her round to the passenger seat.

"Yeah! Ooh, it smells so good in here with the tree!" Penny inhaled deeply as she sat down, before Leonard shut the door and joined her in the car on the drivers side.

"Alright, do your seatbelt up and we can head home and decorate this." Leonard started up the car, waiting for Penny to do her belt before driving off.

"How're we gonna get this upstairs?" Penny asked, turning to him after a moment. "Trees are prickly. I don't want to get scratches all on my hands."

"It's fine, I'll carry it up. Just put some gloves on and you can hold the end up so it doesn't drag up the stairs." Leonard shrugged, hoping that the tree wasn't all too heavy.

"Ooh yeah, I forgot you secretly have muscles hidden under all those layers." Penny smirked. "Merry Christmas to me."

"I have to wear lots of layers, its cold in the winter!"

"Yeah, but you wear them in the summer too." Penny pointed out. "You're not planning on putting up that bust of Isaac Newton on the tree, are you?"

"No," he shook his head, "that's Sheldon's. We're having a normal tree this year."

"Good. I got the decorations down from the back of my closet _and _I bought some cute new ones just for us last week - oh, it's going to be so cute and Christmassy!" Penny clapped her hands together, not unlike a small child. "We can put on the Christmas playlist from my iPod while we decorate?"

"You've already made a playlist?" Leonard raised a brow.

"Yeah, I just keep the playlist on my iPod all the time and add to it whenever something new comes out. As _if _I would delete it, Leonard." Penny shook her head, amused, before her eyes lit up again. "We're home!" She unbuckled her seatbelt before he'd even started parking the car, picking her handbag up from beneath her feet and pulling her gloves from her pockets before putting them on. As soon as the car had stopped, she was out of the car, opening the boot, placing the stand under one arm.

"Alright, here." Leonard pulled the tree out as Penny watched, balancing it between his arms and body as he shut the boot and locked the car. Stuffing the keys into his pocket, he bent his knees a little to hoist the tree up over his shoulder, clutching it tightly. "Grab the end, Penny."

"Oh, yeah," she moved quickly, clutching the end of the tree in her hand and balancing it by her hip.

They made their way carefully up the stairs in a concentrated silence, Leonard maneuvering them so there was enough room to make it around the bends in the stairwell. Penny admired his quick calculations, having been ready to panic that the tree wouldn't make it to their apartment at the first turn. When they finally arrived at the apartment, she let out a deep breath, carefully placing down the end of the tree so she could take out her keys.

"We made it!" She grinned, skipping over to the door.

"That we did." Leonard nodded, taking a quick puff from his inhaler as she opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for him and the tree.

Dragging it in, she shut the door and they leant it against the wall before removing their outer layers. Penny went over to switch her iPod on, and as Leonard poured them both a glass of wine he smiled as the sound of her favourite Christmas songs play from the speakers. He brought the glasses over to the coffee table and began to unpack the tree as she went to fetch the decoartions. Placing the boxes on the couch, Penny helped him place the tree in the stand and move it over to the corner she had emptied specifically for this purpose.

"Okay baby, lets do this!" Penny grinned as she held out a box of decorations for him to take. "Remember, don't put two of the same color baubles too close to each other."

"Yeah, I remember that rule." Leonard nodded. "You want to put the lights on the tree and I'll put these ones around the door?" He held up a string of star-shaped fairy lights.

Penny looked in her box to make sure she had the tree lights and then nodded at him. "Yeah, that sounds good. Then our door will look all pretty! Oh, we'll have to buy a wreath tomorrow to put on the outside of it! How did I forget to buy that?"

They set about putting their lights up, Leonard grabbing a bar stool so he could reach the top of the door frame, carefully taping the lights to the wall so as not to tear at the paint when they were removed. When he was done, he turned to find Penny with her arms wrapped around the tree, and laughed out loud at the sight. "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Trying to reach the other end of the lights so I can plug it in at the back!" Penny scrunched up her face and stuck her tongue out in an effort to reach further.

"Here, let me help." He crouched down on the other side of her, reaching out an arm to take the end of the lights from her. With a sigh of relief, she stood back up and watched as he plugged them in, and they both stood back to admire the lights.

"Aww, don't they look pretty! Come on, we've got to get these decorations up. I'm not going to sleep tonight until they're all up!"

"You are one eager beaver, aren't you?" Leonard chuckled as he returned to his box of decorations.

He found himself humming along to the Christmas tunes as Penny sang along to them, her festive cheer becoming incredibly catchy. He taped three glittery snowflake shapes by their string to her bedroom door, which she grinned at, before heading back over to the tree. She'd put spare tinsel across the stand of the television, and little plastic snowmen on the windowsil. Their boxes of decorations were quickly emptying, and she had been decorating the other side of the tree so he couldn't see her, but could hear her singing along to 'Santa Baby' - her rendition wasn't the best, but it still brought a warm smile to his face.

"Can you come help me with this honey?" Penny stopped singing to ask her question.

"Sure, I'm just putting this little reindeer toy on the tree, one second." Leonard squinted as he tried to get the reindeer toy to hang evenly and not look like it was falling into the depths of the tree. "Alright."

Taking a few steps around to the tree, he beamed at the sight he was met with. An arm above held up above her head, mistletoe in her hands, a sweet smile on her lips and the other hand resting lightly on her hip. As he took a step towards her, she held out her hand, and their fingers entertwined as he closed the gap between them, placing his free hand on her waist.

"Merry Christmas, Leonard." Penny said quietly, her eyes locked on his.

"Merry Christmas, Penny."

Leaning in, she captured his lips with a soft kiss, keeping her mouth over his for a moment as the hand holding the mistletoe dropped to his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered, looking up at him with a serious expression, before clearing her throat a little. "I'm going to hang this mistletoe up somewhere, and then we need to finish decorating our tree."

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your otp putting up Christmas decorations. Person A of you otp gets Person B to come close not sure where to put a decoration turns out the decoration is mistletoe. They share a cute kiss.**


End file.
